Introducing MACCH affiliated researcher: Eslam Nofal

Eslam Nofal has recently joined FASoS as a postdoctoral researcher in Digital Heritage. He will be working closely with Vivian van Saaze and Sally Wyatt in the Terra Mosana project, which aims to strengthen the tourist attractiveness of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine (EMR) and the sense of belonging to it through the digital exploitation of its cultural heritage.

Eslam obtained an Erasmus Master Degree in Management of Cultural Heritage and Landscapes, and recently received his PhD degree in Architecture from KU Leuven (Belgium). His PhD thesis is titled: ‘Phygital Heritage: Communicating Built Heritage Information through the Integration of Digital Technology into Physical Reality”.

His current research focuses on the utilization of digital technologies for achieving better communication and engagement of heritage artifacts and museum collections, in particular the approach of tangible interaction. He has ample expertise in user studies and feedback-instruments, including co-design workshops and mixed-methods evaluation methodology such as observation, semi-structured interviews, sketching, and user experience questionnaires.

Eslam has been also involved in multiple teaching activities in Assiut University (Egypt) and KU Leuven (Belgium) in addition to supervising several Master theses.